according to your principles, you are equally guilty with the Papifts, who worship faints and angels: Nay, your worfhip is no better than Heathenifm; for you worship a deified man. If you reckon him inferior to the Father, however much you may deteft the name of Polytheists, it in fact belongs to you. For if you worthip any other than the Threeone God, you really break the first commandment, and are as guilty, as if you adored as many gods as the ancient heathens. Do you indeed deny the atonement of Christ, and his fupreme Deity? Then, your fituation is truly deplorable, and your guilt is inconceivably great. You deny him, who is the true God and eternal life," and fo " judge "yourselves unworthy of everlasting life." If you continue in this dreadful error, you may juftly fear temporal judgments from him, who hath power to" dafh his enemies in pieces like a potter's veffel." But though you efcape these, there can be no escaping the "wrath of the Lamb.” But, "I hope better things of you," my brethren. Fondly would I indulge the hope, that you do not believe fuch damnable doctrines. Damnable I may furely call them; for if these be not fo, there are no others that deferve the character. Indeed, if these doctrines be true, there is no damnation to be feared, in the proper fenfe of the word.---Perhaps you may fay, "We never fo much as heard them uttered.

Our paftor never denied the atonement, or the Deity of "Chrift. He always affured us, That we were to trust in "the blood of Jesus, and to look on him as our Saviour." But thefe were only "great fwelling words of vanity." If he had hitherto difguifed his fentiments, he hath now in a great measure taken off the veil; and you are henceforth to interpret his general expreffions in the pulpit by this key that he hath given you from the prefs. You find many verbal acknowledgments of thefe even in his essay. Bnt will therefore wilfully blind yourselves with respect to the fenfe in which he ufes them, when, as we have inconteftably fhown, he retracts thefe acknowledgments elfewhere, and at any rate means them as merely complimentary? You are truly in a most pitiable cafe under fuch a minifter; and there is reafon to fear that the fentiments of his colleague are congenial. The world will undoubtedly think so, unlefs he publicly disavow his approbation of them; for he is involved in the dedication, as approving "the matter con

you

tained

1

tained" in the effay, and as living in a state of "happy uni-
on" with a man, who robs Christianity of its very founda-
tion. Do you difbelieve these impious doctrines, and yet
continue under the miniftry of one, who proclaims them to
the world as his faith? The luftre of the church is, indeed,
greatly tarnished, her glory is fadly departed, in comparison
of former times, when her " precious fons were comparable
to fine gold," when her "Nazarites were purer than fnow,"
and when "the voice of the oppreffor was not heard." But
have you ever used means to reclaim your paftor to "the
"truth as it is in Jefus," or to deliver yourselves from his
yoke? Have you fought redress from the judicatories of
the church? If you have never given yourselves any trou-
ble about these things, you have certainly failed in your du-
ty. But though you should have used the means and been
unfuccefsful, can you expect any edification to your fouls
under the miniftry of one, who is an
enemy of the cross
of Chrift," who "denies the only Lord God," and who di-
rects you to "lay another foundation" than that which
"God hath laid in Zion?" Is it not faid by the Spirit of
truth, "If there come any unto you, and bring not this
"doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him
"God fpeed. For he that biddeth him God fpeed is par-
Are there no found minifters

"taker of his evil deeds?"

within your reach? Surely, your fituation cannot be so bad as this. Well, is it not your duty to prefer the truth to every thing elfe; to "keep yourselves pure," and to refuse to follow thofe fhepherds, who would lead you aftray from "the chief Shepherd and Bishop of fouls ??

But whether you believe thefe doctrines or not, if you continue liftlefs and unconcerned, your guilt is unspeakably great. The place of your refidence was once famous for religion. Its "praife was in all the churches." Your pious ancestors, your Stuarts, and your Kennedies "fall

rife up in judgment against you of this generation." That faithful and magnanimous fervant of Jefus Chrift, John Welth, fhall rife up against you in the day of the Lord. "Thefe, (fhall he fay,) are the men who rooted out, or "who defpifed that precious feed of gofpel-truth, that was "fown by my miniftry in the place that gave them birth,

and that was tranfmitted to them as the most precious les "gacy, by their worthy fathers." Even thofe who now miflead

miflead you shall be "fwift witneffes" against you. "There "are they, (thall they declare,) who were fo eafily misled, ' "who fo greedily fwallowed error, or who fupported, "countenanced, and ftrengthened us in the propagation of it; inftead of fearching the fcriptures daily, whether those "things were fo, or ufing fcriptural means for our conviction and recovery." And how fhall you meet the Son of man? "Thefe are they, (thall he fay,) who would not that "Ifhould reign over them." When the great day of his "wrath is come, who fhall be able to ftand?" Hath he not faid; "Whofoever fhall deny me before men, him will I "alfo deny before my Father who is in heaven?"

But why, my brethren, fhould I thus confine my addrefs? This is a common concern to every member of the Church of Scotland. For all the members of the church are profeffionally "one bread and one body." There should, therefore, be no fchifm in the body, but the members "fhould have the fame care one for another: and whether "one member fuffer, all the members fuffer with it, or one "member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it," So intimate is the connexion, that " a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." When the error of an individual is known and patiently endured, it becomes the error of the whole church with which he is connected. But would to God! I could add with the apoftle: " I have confidence "in you thro' the Lord, that you will be none otherwise "minded but he that troubleth you fhall bear his judg"ment, whofever he be."

This is a common concern, indeed, to "all who love our Lord Jefus in truth and fincerity," to whatsoever fociety of Christians they belong. "To us there is but one Lord:" and "all who in every place call upon our Lord Jesus, both theirs and ours" are deeply interested in the fate of this publication. The general interefts of Christianity will be greatly impaired, if such a famous Proteftant church openly fuffer in her members a denial of the Deity of her Head, and of the whole work of falvation by him. Sure I am, all the advantages fhe can receive from the enemy, cannot "countervail the king's" or the church's "damage." Ought it not therefore, to be the refolution of every one of you, after the example of the prophet, nay, of the Lord

Q2

Lord of the prophets: "For Zion's fake Iwill not hold my peace, and for Jerufalem's fake I will not reft; till the ❝ righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the fal"yation thereof as a lamp that burneth.” I am,

MY BRETAREN,

Your Servant for Jesus' fake,

A FRIEND To Truta.

LETTER

LETTER

To the REVEREND DR. MCGILL.

REV. SIR,

YOU

OU will excuse the freedom I have used in endeavouring to make the PUBLIC acquainted with the tendency of your Effay. If you have been fo bold in the propagation of error, I am certainly entitled to equal boldness in the discovery of it, and in the defence of truth. Do not reckon 66 me your enemy, because I" have told the world, and mean to "tell you the truth." I can fafely declare, that I have not the leaft perfonal prejudice against you. How much foever I fhudder at your errors, I would wish to love your person, and to pray for you, that God may give you

repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that you may recover yourself out of the fnare of the devil;" though now you seem to "taken captive by him at his will." I may alfo aver, that I have not wilfully ftrained one paffage of your book. I prefume, that almoft in every inftance, yourown confcience bears me witness to the juftness of the conclufions drawn: and could I fee that in any refpect I had wronged you, it would give me real pain. Í have often, indeed, curtailed your expreffions, though never with a defign of giving an unfair representation of them, but merely to avoid fwelling these letters to an improper fize; and when this method has been observed, it has been almoft in every inftance intimated by blank lines.

I am far from thinking that I have done juftice to your Effay in another refpect. There are many grofs errors in it, of which I have not taken the smallest notice. Nor are the observations, which I have made, prefented to the public as a full anfwer, even as to the fubjects handled. So replete with dangerous doctrine is your Treatife, that it would require a book twice or thrice as large at itself to answer it, in order to do justice to the various important doctrines which are denied. You difplay confiderable ta

lents.